I recently saw a video on YouTube with a collection of Will Smith’s interviews. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLN2k0b3g70) What was incredible is his testimony to zero sum game. His belief is if both he and someone else are on the same treadmill – these are the outcomes: The other person will jump off or he (Will) will die. With so many salespersons giving up (90%) after making the third contact and with 80% of all sales earned between the fifth and 12th contacts, your post only confirms what is missing in so many salespersons.

While it may be important to know more about my competition than my customer, that knowledge is ONLY used to position my own company and product in the most advantageous position. I NEVER mention the competitor to the customer. I SELL myself, my company, my product, and the value we bring to the table. That establishes the price and then it’s just a matter of time. Either now or later, I know if I have the right customer, I represent the right company, product and price to meet their needs and budget, that customer will do business with me!

Hope you cookie baker knows that her competitors don’t want her cookies. They are trying to take her clients . . . and they are trying to eat her lunch. She can be low key, and she can make people feel comfortable and she can still compete as if it counts! Lots of people do!

Great blog! Your discussion above was echoing thoughts I had bouncing around in my head.

I was at a Sales meeting last week with about 60 reps. I had been talking to them all about “making it personal” – ensuring that they really were personally vested in their success – not just in their pocketbook, but also in their heart. Now I’m a very passionate and competitive person – so I have quite a bit of comfort with “kicking some ass”. I was discussing this with one of our top reps and was surprised by her feedback. Like Tom X above, she does not fit the personality type of a typical salesperson. She is very caring, prioritizes making people feel comfortable, and is not competitive. She might just stop short of baking cookies for her competitor after she takes away market share. She was very uncomfortable with the aggressiveness of my “make it personal” message.
The point is – different personality styles may fit for different sales jobs. Stacy is passionate about what she sells – she truly and deeply believes her product helps people and can change lives. Because of that, it allows her to be compelling because she has pure intent – by “selling”, she is really “helping”. Take that same rep and put her in a situation where she is selling a “Me too” product, or one that only has the edge on price – and you would probably have a very low performing rep.
Somewhere earlier today I read a blog that said success was about having the Right People in the Right Job at the Right Time. How true! It’s not really about a zero sum – it’s about harnessing the personality traits of a particular person to allow them to be successful in sales. And – as sales managers, it’s about recognizing that not every good sales person is the right fit for a given job.
Thanks for the mind candy – you really got my wheels turning with this one!

I’ll leave the philosophical aspect of this to you, Dave Brock and Tom. You’ve made excellent points, and I’ve got little to add.

On the other hand, I would like to raise the subject of competitive selling approaches and skills. I was very lucky to have been exposed early on in my sales career to very powerful competitive selling concepts, strategies and tactics. I worked hard and became a very tough competitor. You know I’m not talking about slamming the competition, or what’s equally as ineffective, ignoring them. It’s more (pardon the hackneyed expression) like a chess game played by someone who can literally see five moves ahead.

Any sales training requirements definition or RFP that ESR writes for our clients always includes questions about the trainer’s approach and content in the area of competitive selling. It’s that important.

Anyone who has been through Holden, TAS, and The Complex Sale, as examples, understand where I am going here.

Having a good knowledge of your competitor’s company and products and services is important. Everyone knows that. But analyzing how the other rep in the deal sells on the street, coupled with the ability to build deliberate and specific offensive strategies and defensive counter-strategies with the appropriate supporting tactics and counter-tactics leads to the true meaning of the term, “Outselling your competition.”

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